This is my favorite recipe for sourdough pancakes, and it’s so easy to make, you won’t believe it. I love thin pancakes and have fond childhood memories of pancakes with ice cream on days when dinner wasn’t planned.
My dad usually made pancakes at our house. He always used a recipe from a vegetarian cookbook from the 1970s, I think it was by a French author, and that recipe made quite nice pancakes; as far as I remember, that was the main recipe we used from the cookbook, and the others not so much—which I’m personally quite happy about.
As I said, those pancakes were excellent, but they weren’t quite the way I prefer them—with that depth of flavor from butter, milk, yogurt, and sourdough. All those wonderful animal-based ingredients that books like this usually choose not to use in the name of “health” or “the climate.”.
That’s why, over time, I’ve developed my own recipe, which we always use today. My dad taught me, though, to add a tiny bit of baking soda to get those little fine holes that a French crêpe should have.
I know that many people don’t use a recipe at all when they make pancakes and have to put up with what I call “inconsistent batter performance.” I used to do that a lot myself—making pancakes by feel—and I’m not a fan of it anymore. Even though for many years I kept making pancakes that way—without a scale and without any real idea of why every fifth batch was impossible and required extra flour or eggs just to get them off the pan.
It all belongs to a time when my lack of patience was a major factor in everything I did. Fortunately, God has taught me to be patient and to do things calmly and with precision, rather than rushing and getting quick but highly inconsistent results.
So, naturally, I stopped making pancake batter by feel, since that’s extremely disruptive to one’s pancake enjoyment. So yes, I started measuring and weighing everything in grams so I’d know exactly what was going on when a batter worked. Now I’ve been making pancakes using my own recipe—and not “by feel”—for many years, because I can’t stand pancakes that don’t turn out right, and because there really is a difference in taste, texture, and nutritional value depending on what you put in the batter. After all, I’d never mix bread dough by feel, so there’s no reason to do that with pancakes either.
This recipe is made with freshly ground flour and sourdough; it produces a pancake that can hold fillings without falling apart, and it works equally well with savory or sweet fillings. The sourdough adds flavor and texture, and it also breaks down anti-nutrients—substances we essentially don’t need—so it’s a great idea to make pancakes leavened this way, both for better digestion and for the sake of flavor.
The sourdough starter won’t give the recipe a sour taste unless you let it rise at room temperature for hours or leave it in the fridge for several days. I usually mix the dough, let it rest for 30 minutes on the kitchen counter, and then refrigerate it for 7–12 hours. By then, it’s perfectly fermented and still not sour, but it develops a wonderful flavor that can’t be achieved any other way.
You can also cook them right after the 30 minutes on the kitchen counter (I often do that myself); then I might make about 20 pancakes and put the rest of the batter in the fridge overnight. Then I cook the rest of the batter the next morning, and you can refrigerate or freeze them if they haven’t already been eaten—though I have to admit, pancakes rarely end up in the fridge or freezer around here.
The most important thing to note about this pancake recipe, however, is that it’s easy to make and produces super delicious, nutritious, and sturdy pancakes, so let’s get started!
Sourdough Crêpes Made with Freshly Ground Einkorn
Ingredients
- 6 Eggs (I use medium-sized eggs)
- 60 g Sourdough
- 160 g Nordic Yogurt (Nordic liquid yogurt, filmjölk, thick milk)
- 600 g Colostrum (or other whole milk)
- 1 tbsp Lemon juice
- 2 tbsp Raw cane sugar (You can also use my vanilla or lemon sugar, or poppy seed sugar—they all work just fine.)
- 1/4 tsp Fleur de sel (or other fine flake salt)
- 1/8 tsp Baking Soda
- 500 g Freshly Ground Einkorn
- 60 g Butter (I use unsalted)
Add after rising:
- 250 g Danish Water (or spring water)
- 50 g Extra butter for pan-frying (I wrap a pat of butter in cheesecloth or unbleached paper towels)
Instructions
- Grind the grain and melt the butter.
- Weigh all the ingredients into a large bowl or blender, except for the water, which should be set aside for later use.
- Beat everything together on low speed, and once the ingredients come together, beat on high speed for a couple of minutes. Be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula, then beat again until the batter is completely smooth and lump-free.
- Let the batter rise, covered, on the kitchen counter for 30 minutes if you want to bake the pancakes right away. If you plan to bake them tomorrow, let the batter rise for 1 hour and then let it rise in the refrigerator.
- Once the dough has risen, add the water and whisk until everything is thoroughly combined.
- Now the pancakes are ready to bake. If you don't want to bake them right away, you can simply let them rise further in the refrigerator overnight.
- I cook the pancakes in "de Buyer" crêpe pans ranging from 18 to 24 cm. The pan should be warm enough, but not so hot that it smokes or burns the butter. That’s the balance you need to find.
- I cut a square of about 50 grams of butter, wrap it in cheesecloth or unbleached paper towel, and grease the pan with this small piece of butter before pouring the batter in and making a pancake.
- It often takes a good hour to bake all the batter in a 22–24-cm pan; if you make small pancakes in an 18-cm pan, it often takes more than two hours, although you’ll end up with a lot of pancakes, and they can be frozen for another time.
I hope you have just as much luck with these pancakes as we have; we make them often and alternate between these thin pancakes and my little thick ones, but the great thing about these is that you can fill them with cheese and ham, gravy, or whatever else you feel like—they go with everything!
Have a blessed day!
Love
P.S. All posts on this blog are written and photographed by Belle Frost, no AI is used to generate content. Generate content; all copyrights belong to Maison Frost.
Seriously, these pancakes are so delicious—and so easy to make!!
How wonderful that you’re experiencing the same joy from the simplicity of the recipe and the result—the pancakes. Have a blessed day, Lene K. H. Belle ????????????????️
That looks so good!
I'm glad you like them!
The most delicious pancakes made with freshly ground einkorn wheat! Nothing beats them????????????
Hahaha, I've actually come up with a new recipe that I think beats this one—it's just as easy to make but results in ultra-fluffy pancakes. I'll share that one in a little while.